With everything else going on in fashion retail, mobile disruption is one juggernaut that’s proving unavoidable. Termed omni-channel retailing, stores are working to connect the web and app driven world together with store engagement, entertainment and customer service.
It’s a wonderfully wild world out there as new technologies push the envelope, disrupt traditional marketing and change the retailing landscape. For one, it’s easy to see that in-store Wi-Fi is quickly growing towards being a staple part of the retail shopping experience. Meanwhile, apps are being created to engage, inform and entertain customers, while adding convenience.
These are things we are all familiar with, but did you know that there’s a rising shift towards implementing artificial intelligence to aid with customer-centric customizability in your shopping experience? Many fashion brands are now turning to AI to help sort out the changing needs of consumers.
Brands such as American Eagle, Tommy Hilfiger, Burberry, Sephora, Everlane, Nordstrom and others have been testing AI customer service chat-bots to supplement traditional phone based methods.
A much more exciting development in fashion retail than that though is another avenue in AI that is gearing towards learning how to understand a person’s particular fashion sense and preferences. This could grow to help customers find what they’re looking for or could create a fashion advisor to help you choose what to wear, as well as many more exciting possibilities.
Some of these possibilities I’m keeping under wraps for now because they’re part of my secret sauce in creating what I firmly believe will become the staple platform for online apparel shopping.
But moving along…
In today’s fashion retail market people want convenience, they want fast service, they want options, and they want it done their way. To accommodate these needs, fashion retailers are now looking at how they can incorporate brick and mortar shopping with technology based apps.
The number of apps exceeds what I could possibly cover. One platform in particular though, seems to be gaining ground. Shopify fashion based apps are quickly growing in the eyes of fashion retailers as they expand their arsenal of marketing and consumer needs-based apps. From pixel tracking influencers, streamlining picture based social media platforms to increase engagement and build trust, to sizing guidance apps and more! Check the above linked blog for more details.
Moving along, in my last post on fashion, I mentioned a couple of amazing startups like Metail and MTailor but they’re not the only ones. Another great company named TrueFit is really pushing the envelope with structured Big Data and creating a sizing solution that uses your currently owned best fit clothing to match it up with other clothes of the same shape and size.
Of course there are many apps in fashion retail, as mentioned above, that do something similar in this respect but TrueFit is taking Big Data to a whole new level. Using a nifty assortment of algorithms, combined with a colossal database, they are using what you know fits to find you more of what else will.
All in all, I could keep going on about these growing trends for hours, but then I’d be writing a book.
What I’d really like to know is… What’s your number one pet peeve when it comes to shopping for clothes online and what would you most like to see?
Let me know in the comments below and watch out for the next post!